After resting, Aster spent the rest of the day practising physical drills and aura coordination exercises.

Appropriate aura control exercises were also carried out so that every part of his body and his core would be able to adapt to his current aura capacity.

By midday, he had learned how to channel a thin layer of aura to his feet to improve his balance while running and sparring.

Then he learned how to tighten his grip on his training swords so that they wouldn't slip out of his hands when his palms became slick with sweat.

By late afternoon, the sky had turned orange and Aster's clothes were completely soaked with sweat.

His hair was plastered to his forehead, and every muscle in his body ached every time he moved, but Aster didn't rest yet.

Instead, he realized that it was the best time to compress his aura in his core.

A few hours ago, while he had been training with his muscle brothers, Aster had noticed something very important about his aura and why it was called a life force.

Just like its name depicted, a life force was the minuscule amount of energy the body produced while doing even the simplest of things.

This meant that if Aster or anyone else were to wake up in the morning to eat, bathe, and simply walk around their house, they would produce a tiny amount of life force within them.

However, if they were to carry out intense exercises every single day for the rest of their lives, their bodies would be able to produce a huge amount of life force every single day as well.

'But shouldn't this cheat be enough for everyone in this world to be super strong?' Aster uttered in his thoughts but that wasn't how things worked in the supernatural realm.

Just like the human realm, there were a lot of supernatural beings who didn't like to leave the comfort of their home, let alone do simple, basic exercises.

So why would they feel eager to partake in intense and painful exercises that would only leave them groaning on their bed every single day, after each training session, when they could simply do something less stressful, less painful, and simply more satisfying?

In other words, there was an alternative way to increase their life force, and that was by simply meditating, and who wouldn't want to do something as simple and relaxing as meditating?

Unlike the legion's intense training routine, most demons prefer to just sit at home and meditate.

Though their aura would only increase at a snail's pace, most demons and other races don't particularly care about their slow progress. After all, they had a really long lifespan, so why waste years having sore muscles and sweaty bodies when they could simply meditate and improve their strength?

Another alternative was hunting monster cores.

Many would rather go out hunting for monster cores since they could improve their strength by absorbing the cores of these monsters.

They saw it as a better and more effective alternative to meditation, and it could also be seen as an alternative to the intense training as well, so in a way, it was a win-win for them.

These were the things Aster learned today when he had asked Hallie if there were any alternative ways to increase his aura capacity.

But out of all three methods, training with the legion was still the best and fastest method he could adopt if he intended to become stronger before the tournament began.

And so, with his training over in the garrison, Aster decided it was time for him to return home and every single pumpkin knight bowed with deep respect at how he had spent twelve hours with them for his first ever training.

That spoke volumes about Aster's intentions and his desire to grow stronger, which unwittingly made all of Vivian's legion develop a strong sense of respect towards the young dragon prince.

Now, they couldn't wait for him to train with them the next day, but of course, they would also understand if Aster were to take a day or two to rest before returning back to the garrison.

A few minutes later, Aster had finally arrived home but he could feel how sore his whole body was.

Of course, he had known that his body was exhausted ever since he had stepped out of the garrison. But it wasn't until he got to the castle's gates that he realized just how sore his body really was.

Right now, his legs felt as stiff as wood, and his arms were numb after continuously channeling his aura to his arms while swinging his wooden sword, so Aster made his way straight to the bathroom to take a really good and long bath.

Hallie wanted to help him walk over to the bathroom, but Aster asked her not to, so she decided to escort him instead, and the moment he stepped into the bathroom, Hallie excused herself to pay a visit to Vivian who was currently in her study.

Meanwhile, Aster continued to enjoy the soothing warmth of his bath, then he recalled how his first training session had gone.

Although Ripper and the knights hadn't admitted it during their training session, Aster was certain that the thirty push-ups and fifty squats they had done with him today weren't what the knights were used to doing on a daily basis.

After all, those knights were monsters, so they were probably used to doing hundreds and probably thousands of those push-ups and squats, but the captain had decided to reduce it to something that their prince could keep up with.

It wasn't like Ripper was trying to coddle or cosset Aster because he was their prince.

Instead, Captain Ripper had done that with the hope of slowly easing Aster into the real level of intensity their training normally demanded, so that Aster's body wouldn't crumble before he could completely comprehend the basics of their training.

With everything that had happened today, Aster had realized something very important about Captain Ripper.

While he was strict, demanding and tough, the Captain was definitely not cruel, unreasonable or heartless.

But above all things, Aster realized that Captain Ripper and his knights genuinely wanted him to improve and grow stronger.

And this filled Aster's heart with warmth and pride as he slowly sank deeper into his bath with a tired smile on his lips.

'I really had a lot of fun today with my new muscle brothers.'

'I can't wait to see what other fun sessions we'll have tomorrow.'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.